CALEDONIA — A five-game losing streak came to an end Friday night when the Caledonia High School football team downed Kosciusko 28-10 on Senior Night.
The Confederates (4-6) scoring all of their points on the ground. Ben Marchbanks got the Confederates on the scoreboard when he punched it in from 12 yards. He added a 55-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Ontario Lowery added a 15-yard score, while Tyler Armistad scored from 8 yards.
Caledonia coach Ricky Kendrick was glad to see his team get its first Class 4A, Region 4 victory.
“Our kids have had to overcome a lot of adversity this season,” Kendrick said. “I am proud of how hard they played tonight. We were productive and our defense played outstanding. It was our first win in a while and we have been working on trying to change attitudes.”
Caledonia will end the regular season at 7 p.m. Friday when it travels to Macon to take on Noxubee County.
n Washington School 21, Heritage Academy 3: At Greenville, Washington School took advantage of short field opportunities and didn’t give Heritage Academy much time to manufacture anything offensively.
“We could not overcome short field situations,” Heritage Academy coach Brad Butler said. “We fumbled the opening kickoff at the 15 and we had a short punt in the first half. We gave them two touchdowns and they did not have to go the length of the field.”
The Generals set the tone early in the game when they recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and scored. They used a six-minute drive late in the second quarter to make it 14-3.
“They ate up a lot of clock in the second half,” Butler said. “They ate up so much clock and did not give us time to score.”
Heritage Academy (4-5) will end the season at 7 p.m. Friday when it plays host to Pillow Academy.
n Clarksdale 41, New Hope 27: At Clarksdale, Jameel Johnson rushed for two touchdowns and Trae Collins caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Brady Davis and made two interceptions, but the Trojans (4-5) suffered a key Class 5A, Region 1 loss.
New Hope slipped to 2-3 in the region and out of the top four. The top four teams in the region qualify for the playoffs. New Hope likely will have to win its last two games against Center Hill and West Point to secure a playoff big.
Center Hill ended West Point’s region winning streak Friday night with a 30-29 victory.
“We just couldn’t stop them,” New Hope coach Michael Bradley said. “We were behind on the scoreboard all night.”
Clarksdale scored on a long pass on its first series to take a 7-0 lead. New Hope answered with Davis’ pass to Collins to tie the game.
Clarksdale (5-4, 3-2) answered with another long scoring pass and another score to take a 20-7 lead. Johnson then scored on a short run to make it 20-13.
New Hope scored on the first possession of the second half on a short run by Johnson to cut the deficit to 26-20. The Trojans then recovered an onside kick, but couldn’t score. New Hope held Clarksdale on the ensuing possession and drove to the Clarksdale 25-yard line, where it couldn’t convert a fourth-and-2.
Clarksdale then drove right down the field and used a long pass and run to take a 34-20 lead. It used another big play to take a 41-20 lead. Todd Harris scored on a 65-yard run to account for New Hope’s final points.
Bradley said New Hope knew Clarksdale was a good team, but he said he didn’t expect Clarksdale to throw the ball as much as it did.
Still, Bradley said the Trojans had their chances to keep their playoff destiny in their hands.
“We had a couple of chances to tie the game or to take the lead that would have changed the whole complexion of the game, but we just didn’t make the play,” Bradley said. “The play is there and it has to be made and we didn’t. Give credit to Clarksdale. They made the plays that needed to be made. Every time they had a big play they made it, and that was the difference in the ballgame.”
Bradley praised the play of Tee Payne and Juan Cedano on defense.
“We will just keep plugging and keep working and keep trying to get better,” Bradley said.
n Winston Academy 42, Immanuel Christian 14: At Steens, The Rams (1-7) couldn’t overcome 21 first-half points by the Patriots.
The Patriots put up 35 points in the first three quarters and kept the Rams scoreless. The Rams would finally put something on the scoreboard when Michael Tate punched it in on the ground. Tate had 61 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Norris Harris scored the Rams’ other touchdown and finished with 58 yards on 11 touches. Jason Davis added 39 yards on 10 carries. He also had an interception.
J.D. Danztler also had an interception, while James Wriley had five tackles and B.J. Shirley made four.
Immanuel Christian will travel to West Point at 7 p.m. Friday to take on Oak Hill Academy.
n, Nanih Waiya 46, West Lowndes 6: At Louisville, The Panthers dropped to 2-7 and lost their fifth straight game of the year.
West Lowndes coach Anthony King didn’t have any statistics after the game.
“They were stronger than we were,” King said. “We need to hit the weight room and we may do that this offseason. We couldn’t stop the run, and we have not been able to stop the run all year.”
West Lowndes will return home at 7 p.m. Friday when it plays host to Weir.
n Central Academy 55, Calvary Christian 14: At Macon, Cole Newman gave the Vikings the spark they needed, scoring four touchdowns.
Newman finished with 224 rushing yards on 13 carries. The Vikings rode Newman to improve their record to 8-2 and 7-1 in district.
Drew Pearson did it all for the Vikings. He rushed two times for 27 yards, caught two passes for 35 yards and one score (from T.J. Coleman), and ran back a 72 yard kickoff for a touchdown.
Cody Brown and Redmon Butler led the defense. Brown had six tackles and two sacks. Butler led the team with eight tackles. Brown also punched it in from 3 yards.
Central Academy will open the playoffs as the North No. 2 seed against the South No. 3 seed Franklin Academy (La.) on Friday at home.
n Aliceville 49, Northside High School 27: At Aliceville, Ala., On a night with mixed emotions, the Yellow Jackets clinched their first home playoff game since 2006.
The Yellow Jackets (5-4) played with heavy hearts as they honored fallen teammate Tremaine Jackson, who was killed last weekend in an automobile accident.
Christopher Crowell threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more. Crowell was 7 of 17 for 69 yards. He rushed six times for 47 yards.
The Yellow Jackets scored with 10 minutes, 34 seconds left on the clock in the first quarter when Crowell punched it in from 7 yards. Aliceville scored 15 more points in the first quarter to leave no doubt about victory.
Terry Mayhew rushed for 148 yards on 10 carries and one score. Jeremy McMullen also rushed for a touchdown.
Aliceville will end the regular season at 7 p.m. Friday when it travels to Sumter County.
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